Overestimating WiFi Security Threats

from the hello,-encryption... dept

For a while, it appeared that very few people were aware of the security risks of using WiFi hotspots, but now that it's been covered to death by a variety of sources, people seem to be overhyping the risks associated with using WiFi. While this article claims that some sneaky users are setting up fake WiFi access points pretending to be legitimate hotspots to swipe your data, it's not entirely clear why this would be done. Assuming the scammer already can get on a legitimate WiFi network, they can do pretty much the same intercepting. Still, what's worse is that the article quotes a security expert saying that you absolutely should not use any WiFi hotspot for any financial transactions or other transmissions of sensitive data. They actually claim that's the only way to avoid this risk. Well, no, it's not. First off, almost all financial institutions use encryption for the transmission of data from their websites. If your bank doesn't, you should get a new bank. So, even if someone accesses the data, whether by their own access point or simply connecting to the one you're on, they're going to have quite a bit of trouble getting your bank account details. There are also other ways to protect your data while using a hotspot, such as using a secure VPN connection that encrypts all of your traffic. Completely scaring people off of hotspots with stories doesn't seem to do anyone any good. This isn't to say you shouldn't be careful to make sure you're practicing "safe WiFi," but there's no reason to completely swear off WiFi.